


Study Buddy

by JJ_Smith



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 15:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8496001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JJ_Smith/pseuds/JJ_Smith
Summary: When James asks Scorpius to help him with his homework, it's the start of something beautiful.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write Scorbus, how did I end up writing this?

It's a Sunday afternoon when Scorpius gets the shock of his life. None other than James Potter approaches him in the library. For one James doesn't look confident. In fact he looks even more nervous than Scorpius feels about being alone with James. 

James runs a hand through his dark hair, making it stick up as much as Albus’ does naturally. “Um… Scorpius, you're pretty good at herbology, right? Albus said you were once,” he says.

“Correct, I'm quite good at it. It’s interesting, you know? All those plants that can either heal or kill you. Did you know that the ...” Scorpius answers. 

“Yeah, sure,” James says, interrupting him. “Well, I need your help. I've got this massive paper due tomorrow and I completely forgot about it until just now and if I get another failing grade, mum’ll make me quit the team. Can you please help me?” James pleads.

Scorpius’ first instinct is to say yes. He doesn't mind helping people at all, even if they're known for constantly teasing his best friend. Just before he opens his mouth, however, he realizes he can get something out of this for himself as well.

“I'll help you, but in return you have to give me Quidditch lessons,” he says, smiling confidently.

“Yes, fine, anything! Please, just help me!” James says, sounding desperate.

Scorpius didn’t know James could sound that desperate. He hasn’t been around James a lot, but Albus has told him plenty of stories about James. All of them featured a confident James. “Yes, okay. I’ll help you.”

James relaxes instantly. “Thank you,” he says. “You’re a lifesaver.”

Scorpius blushes a little, not used to compliments from someone who isn’t Albus. “Don’t mention it. So, what do you have so far.”

James looks a bit sheepish and shuffles his feet. “Um… not much. Or anything, really.”

Scorpius sighs, this is going to be more work than he figured. “Okay, what’s it supposed to be about?” he asks.

“Oh, I know! It’s about… um… something to do with plants?” James says.

“How am I supposed to help you write a paper when you don’t even know what it’s about?” Scorpius asks.

“I’ll figure it out, just stay here,” James says. He runs away before Scorpius can respond, or remind him that he’s not allowed to run in the library.

By the time James comes back, Scorpius has made himself comfortable at a table, with a book on poisonous plants indigenous to the Scottish highlands. 

“Okay, we’re supposed to pick a local plant with magical properties and write about it,” James says, not even bothering with a greeting. 

Scorpius puts down his book. “Okay, have you picked a plant?” he asks.

James smiles and shakes his head. “No, but a smart guy like you must be able to pick a really good one for me, right?”

Scorpius knows James is just trying to make him feel good so he’ll help, but he still loves hearing the compliment. “Well, yeah, I probably can. I can tell you about it and you can write down what I say,” he suggests.

“Perfect!” James says, pulling parchment, ink and his feather out of his bag. “I’m ready.”

Scorpius doesn’t mean to dictate the entire paper to James, he was just going to help him get started, but two hours later James has finished his paper and Scorpius’ throat is sore from all the talking.

“Scorp, you’re the best! This paper has got to be at least an E, maybe even an O!” he says, carefully putting the parchment away.

“Won’t that get the professor suspicious, though?” Scorpius asks. He doesn’t know what grades James usually gets, but he doubts he regularly pulls in Outstandings.

“Hey, rude! I mean, totally justified, but also rude! Professor Longbottom’s always telling me I have great potential, so I’m sure he’ll believe I did this on my own. Seriously, thank you,” James says. Without thinking about it, he presses a quick kiss to Scorpius’ cheek before getting up and running away again.

Scorpius is left all alone at the table, blushing furiously. He reaches out to touch the place where James kissed him with shaking fingers, hardly able to believe that just happened. James kissed him. James Sirius Potter kissed him, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy! Sure, it was only as thanks because Scorpius helped him with his paper, but still! Scorpius’ heart is beating fast and he can’t stop smiling. 

Scorpius skips dinner and immediately goes to the common room. He’s not sure he can face Albus right now. How do you tell your best friend you’ve gotten kissed by his brother and now your stomach’s doing all sorts of flips? It doesn’t help that Scorpius has, on occasion, had dreams about James which were a little more steamy than the little kiss in the library. Still, he’s never seriously considered James romantically. Until now, that is.

He could hit himself; one stupid kiss and he’s already thinking about kissing James more. Albus would hate him for sure, which is why he can’t afford to even entertain this idea. He’ll go to sleep and in the morning he’ll act like it never happened.

It works perfectly. The next morning he’s not even thinking about James during breakfast and he easily lies to Albus about why he missed dinner the previous day. Things are absolutely normal again and school keeps him so busy that he doesn’t even have time to think about James; for once Scorpius is thankful for how busy his upcoming OWLs are keeping him. 

Unfortunately, his peace doesn’t last forever. A week after Scorpius helped James, he shows up at the Slytherin table for breakfast.

“Piss off, James. I’m not in the mood,” Albus says.

“Believe it or not, dear brother of mine, I’m not here to see you. Scorp, it’s okay if I call you Scorp, right? I can give you a Quidditch lesson tonight, if you’re free,” he says, flashing Scorpius a smile.

Scorpius doesn’t really know what to say. Suddenly he can’t stop thinking about the stupid kiss. He ends up nodding.

“Great! We’ll go out after dinner. See you tonight.” James runs off again to join his Gryffindor friends for breakfast.

“Okay, that was odd… Why is James giving you Quidditch lessons?” Albus asks Scorpius. “And why the hell are you blushing? You’ve only ever looked like that after talking to Ro…” he falls silent, suddenly realizing something.

“Oh, no! No, no, no. Get that thought out of your head right now!” Scorpius says, trying very hard not to blush even harder.

“You’re in love with my brother,” Albus hisses, so no one else will overhear. “Merlin’s beard, Scorp. Why? He’s disgusting.”

“I’m not in love with him,” Scorpius says quickly. “It’s just… I don’t know. He kissed me and I felt weird.”

“He kissed you?!” Albus blurts out.

Scorpius quickly shushes him, he doesn’t need anyone overhearing this conversation. “Not like a full out kiss. I helped him with a paper and he kissed my cheek when he thanked me. It’s no big deal. I’m just being weird. You know me, weird Scorpius. It’s no big deal.”

Albus looks disgusted. “That’s just gross. I have told you about the time he ate worms, right? Think about that when you have your Quidditch lesson.”

“He was five, I hardly think he still eats worms,” Scorpius says.

“You never know with him. He’s done stranger things,” Albus says. “If you end up kissing him again, make sure he brushes his teeth first.”

“I doubt he even wants to kiss me. It was just a stupid little thank you,” Scorpius says.

Albus shrugs. “Maybe, but you are his type, so…”

Scorpius’ head snaps up. “What?!” he squeaks out.

“On holiday he was making out with just about every blonde boy he could find,” Albus explains. 

“Oh…” Scorpius looks down at his food, hoping Albus can’t see the blush on his cheeks or the smile on his lips.

“Merlin, you’re happy about it. You’re happy my gross brother has been kissing boys who look like you!” Albus says.

“Maybe… But only if you don’t mind. Our friendship is more important to me, so if you say I can’t, I won’t,” he says.

Albus shrugs again. “Nah, it’s okay if you want to. Just know that I think he’s gross and way too into Quidditch.”

“But, I have your blessing?”

“Yes, Scorpius, you have my blessing to snog my brother,” Albus confirms. “But you have to tell me about it, because I don’t want him to know stuff about you that I don’t, okay? You’re my best friend. Just… leave out the gross details.”

“I promise to tell you as much as you want to know,” Scorpius says. “You’re my best friend too, nothing will come between us.”

“Not even my gross brother?” Albus asks.

“Not even your gross brother,” Scorpius answers.

“Good. Now, eat your breakfast, it’s the most important meal of the day,” Albus says sternly.

Scorpius feels relieved for the rest of the day. He has no idea whether or not he’ll actually be kissing James, but at least Albus would be okay with it. The fact that James has been kissing boys who look like him can only be positive. He figures he has a much better shot at getting with James than he did with Rose.

That night James comes to get him after dinner and the two of them go out to the Quidditch pitch. It turns out that James is an excellent teacher and together they go through the different positions to find Scorpius’ strengths.

They start with James’ position, Beater, and it’s an absolute disaster. Scorpius nearly gets knocked off his broom twice and manages to miss the bludger by about a mile. The third time the Bludger flies at him, James only just saves him from being hit in the face. 

“Okay, you are definitely not cut out for this position,” he says as he struggles to place the ball back in its case. 

“Sorry,” Scorpius says.

“No, don’t apologize. We can’t all be good at everything. Let’s try something else,” James says, flashing Scorpius an encouraging smile. The next ball James pulls out is a snitch. “It’s an old one, so it’s not as fast as one used in a match, but it’s good for practicing on,” he informs Scorpius.

His attempts at catching the snitch are better than his attempts of hitting the bludger, but it’s not spectacular. He’s not quite fast enough to keep up with the quick changes of direction that the snitch makes, and he knows he’ll be even worse at it in games. 

“Better, definitely better,” James says. “But I don’t think it’s your thing. We’ll try the position of chaser next.”

This is a definite improval to either of the other positions Scorpius tried out. James passes the ball to him, and Scorpius catches it easily. They pass it back and forth for a while, and James ends up being the one to drop the ball, not Scorpius. For a moment Scorpius thinks he’s found the thing he’s good at, but then James makes him fly around while passing the ball back and forth, which turns out to be a lot more difficult. He can definitely see himself being able to do it, but he’ll have to practice a lot.

“You’re pretty good,” James says, slightly out of breath. “I want to see you try the position of keeper. I think you could really rock that.”

Scorpius can’t help but feel great at being complimented. He flies over to the hoops, and eagerly waits for James to try to score.

As it turns out, James’ suspicions were correct; Scorpius doesn’t let a single ball through, no matter how hard James tries to score. It’s actually quite fun watching James get frustrated. 

“Okay, fine. There’s a reason I’m not a chaser,” he says after half an hour. “Don’t think you can beat the Gryffindor team, okay? Maybe you can beat Ravenclaw, but not us.” His tone is teasing, though.

“We’ll see. I don’t know about that. I think you guys are lucky that there currently isn’t an open spot for a keeper on the Slytherin team,” Scorpius says. He’s still going to try to get on the team, though. Maybe the keeper will get sick or something and Scorpius will be able to fill in for him. Or maybe he can already assure himself of a spot next year and train with the team meanwhile. 

“Nah, we’re totally going to win the cup this year, just you wait,” James says confidently. 

“We’ll see. I like our chances too. If we beat Hufflepuff, you guys are going to have to play really well to win,” Scorpius says. 

“You’re never going to beat Hufflepuff, their team is way too strong,” James says.

“I think we might,” Scorpius says. 

“If you guys win, I’ll buy you a butterbeer next time we go to Hogsmeade,” James says.

“Deal,” Scorpius says. It isn’t until he’s back inside that he remembers he’s no longer allowed to go to Hogsmeade.

From that moment on, James starts finding more and more excuses to be around Scorpius, to Albus’ great annoyance. He’ll often do his homework at Albus and Scorpius’ table in the library. He even sits with them for dinner once or twice. If he spots them outside, he’ll join them too.

It’s on one of those occasion that Albus finally snaps. “Oh, my God, will you two just kiss already? You both want to. Just do it.”

“Albus!” Scorpius says, his eyes wide. He can’t believe his best friend would just betray him like that. Ever since that first peck on the cheek, James has shown no interest in kissing him. Of course he’s complained about that to Albus, but he never suspected Albus would tell James.

“What? I… I don’t want to kiss him!” James stammers, looking ghastly pale. “Why would you? That’s… Al, you’re ridiculous.”

Every word that he says cuts Scorpius like a knife.

“Seriously? There wasn’t a blonde guy you didn’t try to make out with last summer,” Albus reasons. “And need I remind you that we shared that tent? ‘Oh, Scorpius. Please, Scorpius. Right there’,” he says, imitating James.

James’ color goes from pale white to bright red. “Albus! That is private information.”

“It’s not like this one is any better,” he says, pointing towards Scorpius. “‘Oh, James, you’re so handsome. Please, don’t stop, James.’” This time he’s imitating Scorpius’ voice. 

“Albus!” Scorpius shouts, equally as red as James.

Albus shrugs, clearly fed up with the two of them. “I’m going inside, you two are going to kiss or whatever. I’m sick of my best friend pining for my brother.” He doesn’t give them a chance to object and leaves them.

A silence falls over James and Scorpius, neither dares to look at the other. After a couple of minutes, it’s James that breaks the silence and makes the first move.

“Oh, bloody hell, let’s just do this.” He leans over and kisses Scorpius abruptly.

Scorpius squeaks in surprise, not expecting to be kissed so suddenly. After a second he relaxes, though. This is definitely better than the peck on his cheek. He’ll actually have to thank Albus for this. He’ll do it later, though, because now James is burying his fingers in his hair and pulling him closer and Scorpius feels like the world could spontaneously combust and he wouldn’t notice. All he can think about is James’ lips on his and James’ fingers in his hair. Then James’ hand is on his hip and Scorpius lets out another squeak.

“You okay?” James whispers, pulling back slightly. He rests his forehead against Scorpius and rubs their noses together.

“Yeah… just… I’m new to all this,” he whispers back.

“That’s okay, I’ll be your teacher again,” James replies.

“Is there going to be a test?” Scorpius asks.

“There might be, so you’d better pay attention. I suggest you make notes too. You should also find a study buddy,” James says.

“I don’t suppose you could recommend someone to me?” he asks.

“I’ll think about it.” James dives in for another kiss and pulls Scorpius onto his lap.

Scorpius doesn’t know how long he’s on James’ lap for, but they’re suddenly interrupted by a disgruntled looking Professor McGonagall. Scorpius trips over his own legs in his hurry to get off of James’ lap.

“Professor!” he says.

“Boys, keep your hormones in check, please,” she says, giving them both a stern look before walking on again.

James can’t help but laugh. “You should see your face, like you just saw a ghost.”

“Dumbledore, that was so embarrassing. I was in your lap! Kissing you! And she saw… No, you don’t think she’ll tell my dad, do you? I’ll never live this down,” he says, getting more panicked with every minute.

“Woah, calm down. She’s caught me with plenty of boys and girls and she’s never told my dad. Don’t worry.” James jumps up and reaches out to take Scorpius’ hand. “Deep breaths, it’s okay.”

Scorpius nods and follows James’ instructions; taking a few deep, calming breaths. “Okay. I’m good. Sorry I freaked out on you.”

“It’s okay. Are you really worried about your dad finding out? Because McGonagall might not tell him, but others might. We shouldn’t make out in public again if you want to hide it,” James says.

Scorpius has to think about that for a moment. His first instinct is to hide this from his father, but when he takes his time to really think about it, he doesn’t think he really has to hide it. His dad loves him and Scorpius is sure that his father won’t be angry. At least not too much. “No, I… I don’t think he’d mind. We can do that again. The kissing thing. I like the kissing thing. I don’t want to stop it.”

“That’s good, because I don’t intend to stop doing it.” James pulls Scorpius against him. “I mean, I did promise to teach you how to do this, and I think you need more practice.”

“Oh, yeah, you were going to give me a test, weren’t you?” Scorpius teases.

“Yes, it’ll be a practical exam, so you’ll need a lot of practice,” James says.

“Oh, I figured it would be an oral exam,” Scorpius says, blushing as soon as the words are out of his mouth.

“Oh! Oh, Scorpius, you bloody perfect specimen of a man. How did I not think of that?! That’s brilliant!” James says, smiling widely. “Yeah, this is going to work out just fine.”

Scorpius smiles shyly. “I don’t know what came over me, to be honest.”

“If you play your cards right, I’ll be the one coming over you,” James says, winking.

“Okay…. I think it’s about time for dinner. I’ll… um…. I’ll see you later,” Scorpius says, stepping back from James.

“Was that too much? Sorry. It won’t happen again,” James apologizes.

“Yeah, it will. I’ll get used to it,” Scorpius says. “But, I’m not used to it yet.”

“I’ll try to hold back for you,” James says.

“Thank you,” Scorpius says, hesitating for a moment. “We do really need to go inside for dinner, though.”

“Oh, yeah.” James runs a hand through his hair. “I am starving. Let’s go.”

Albus is already at the dinner table by the time Scorpius and James walk in. Scorpius fully expects James to go to the Gryffindor table, but instead he sits down next to Scorpius.

“You know, this is the Slytherin table. You have your own table on the other side of the hall that’s perfectly fine,” Albus says.

“That table suffers from a severe lack of Scorpius, so I prefer this one,” James said, shuffling to sit even closer to Scorpius.

Albus rolls his eyes and groans.

“Already regretting spilling the beans about our feelings?” James asks teasingly.

“Oh, yes, definitely. I’d rather have my best friend pining for you than have you around all the time drooling all over him,” Albus says, pulling a face.

“He doesn’t drool all over me, but I’m sure James can agree that I also need time with my best friend,” Scorpius says, looking at James. 

“Fine, I won’t spend every meal with you,” he says, leaning in for a quick kiss.

“You’re allowed at dinner every other day and lunch on the weekends,” Albus says. “I don’t want to see you in the morning.”

“It’s at moments like these that you remind me so much of mum,” James says.

Albus beams proudly. “Thank you.”

“That wasn’t meant to be a compliment,” James shoots back.

“Oh, look, they have baked potatoes! James, pass me some,” Scorpius says, breaking the growing tension between the brothers successfully. 

Over the next couple of weeks Scorpius has to break up James and Albus an average of three times a week and he gets better and better at it. Once he tries to sit at the Gryffindor table, to give Albus a break from being around his brother, but that ends in disaster. The Gryffindors are a lot less tolerant of him joining them than the Slytherins are of James being at their table.

It’s not exactly easy for James at the Slytherin table either, but he has a thicker skin. He has no trouble laughing along with the jokes the Slytherins make about Gryffindors. Surprisingly enough, that seems to somewhat soften Albus’ attitude towards James.

“We have a Hogsmeade trip coming up. Do you think I can rip you away from my little brother to take you out on a date?” James asks.

“Yes, of course!” Scorpius answers immediately.

“Well… you could, if Scor and I were allowed to go. McGonagall took away that privilege after the whole timeturner thing,” Albus says.

“Oh, yeah… I forgot. I’m sorry, James,” Scorpius says.

“Oh… well, I can always just sneak you out,” James suggests. “It’s not that hard.”

“I’m not sure that’s wise. I don’t want to get in more trouble,” Scorpius says. “My dad would surely have a heart attack.”

“Then I’ll buy us some butterbeers and candy and meet you back at the castle for a date,” James says, shrugging. “I’m sure we can make it work.”

“Okay! It’s a date!” Scorpius says, a radiant smile on his face.

“Yes, a real date,” James says, leaning in to kiss Scorpius. 

“No kissing!” Albus says. “You can kiss on your date, but I’m trying to eat here and I don’t want to see you two kissing.”

James ignores Albus and kisses Scorpius quickly before grinning at Albus.

“Gross,” Albus says.

“James… Can you please try to keep the peace here?” Scorpius asks. “I promise you can sneak me into a broom closet and we’ll make out after dinner.”

Albus makes a gagging sound, which earns him a playful shove from Scorpius.

“I could also smuggle him into the Slytherin common room and make out on your bed,” Scorpius threatens. 

Albus quickly recovers and puts on a fake smile. “Have fun in your broom closet,” he says.

“No, I like Scorpius’ option better. Let’s go to your room,” James says, grinning.

“No! I will draw the line at that. I’d tell mum about that, “Albus threatens.

“I won’t bring him to our room,” Scorpius says quickly. “Don’t worry. I was just teasing. I think I’ll just take him away before you two start a new wizarding war.” Scorpius quickly grabs a pastry before pulling James up and away, in search of a broom closet. He finally stumbles into the common room a few hours later with a stupid grin on his face, incredibly messy hair, and an uncomfortable wet spot in his pants.

The day of their first date, Scorpius gets a note to meet James in the astronomy tower at noon. Because of his nerves, he shows up more than half an hour early. Scorpius can practically hear Albus mock him as he nervously paces around the tower, fidgeting with his sleeves and biting his lip. A small part of him fears James isn’t going to show up. He gets so worked up that by the time James shows up, he nearly cries in relief. 

“Hey, you made it!” Scorpius says.

“Of course!” James leans in to press a kiss to Scorpius’ lips before setting down two bags. “I got all sorts of food, drinks and sweets. Just let me set things up.”

Scorpius stands aside and watches James conjure up a blanket for them. He tries to offer his help on several occasions, but James is having none of it. Several minutes later James has managed to transform the boring, stone tower into a perfect romantic picnic. There’s even candles floating over the blanket. 

“Wow. This looks great. I didn’t think you could do this… romance stuff,” Scorpius says.

“I am a man of many mysteries,” James says. He pulls Scorpius down onto the blanket and offers him a butterbeer.

“Lucky for you I like mysteries,” Scorpius says. He snuggles up close to James and takes a drink of his butterbeer.

Halfway through lunch, James speaks up. “So, are you going to tell my little brother about this?” he asks.

Scorpius nods and swallows his sandwich before answering. “Yes, he’s my best friend and it’s his duty to listen to me talk about my boyfriend. I mean, not that we’re boyfriends… you are a friend. And a boy. I just misspoke. You and me, friends who kiss.”

“I’ll be your boyfriend,” James says, taking pity on the way Scorpius is struggling to talk his way out of his slip.

“Really? You don’t have to be,” Scorpius says, blushing a little.

“I want to be, so I am. And that’s the end of it.” James leans in for a kiss and steals one of Scorpius’ sandwiches while he’s distracted.

“Okay,” Scorpius says when James breaks the kiss, a dopey smile on his face. He doesn’t even notice that his last sandwich has been stolen. He has a boyfriend and he can’t imagine being happier than he is right now.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please let me know!   
> You can also come talk to me on Tumblr: scorpiuspottermalfoy.tumblr.com


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